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DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said this week it sold a record 11,600 natural-gas vehicles last year,
more than four times the number it had sold two years ago.

It’s the latest sign that natural gas is making inroads as a transportation fuel, particularly
for truck fleets, buses and taxis. The consumer market is tougher to crack, but sales are gaining
there as well.

Natural gas is cheap and plentiful in the U.S. after a spike in production that began in the
middle of last decade. At the same time, the price of gasoline and diesel fuel has jumped more than
30 percent.

But while natural gas may be a good choice for snowplows and trash trucks, which go relatively
short distances and can refuel at city-owned pumps, it’s a tougher call for consumers. Natural-gas
cars cost more, and there are few public places to refuel them. Those issues need to be addressed
if the vehicles are to significantly boost their share of the auto market, which is currently less
than 1 percent.

General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group recently added natural-gas pickup trucks to their lineups.
Honda Motor Co. is seeing more interest in its natural-gas Civic — with record U.S. sales of nearly
2,000 last year. The 2013 natural-gas Civic has an EPA fuel economy rating of 38 mpg highway, 27
city and 31 combined.

Natural-gas vehicles aren’t new. Ford’s previous peak sales year, of 5,491, was in 2001. But the
vehicles fell out of favor later that decade when the price of natural gas spiked. Ford stopped
selling natural-gas vehicles in 2004 and didn’t start making them again until 2009.

During those five years, new technology unlocked vast reserves of natural gas in deep rock
formations, creating a glut that has depressed prices. Compressed natural gas — or CNG — now costs
$1.79 to $3.49 per gallon in the U.S., depending on location, compared with an average of $3.74 for
gasoline and $4.12 for diesel, according to Clean Energy, which operates natural-gas fueling
stations, and AAA.

It’s even cheaper for corporate or government buyers, who might pay as little as 80 cents per
gallon for their natural gas, according to CNG Now, an industry lobbying group. In the U.S., CNG is
sold in units that have the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline.

No one is quite sure how many natural-gas vehicles are on the road. Honda and Chrysler are the
only companies that make CNG-ready vehicles in their own factories. Ford and GM make vans and
trucks that are prepped to run on CNG, or on a combination of gasoline and CNG, but rely on outside
companies to add about $10,000 worth of equipment, including the natural-gas tank. Some drivers
convert their cars and trucks on their own.

GE, which is developing a home fueling station, estimates there are 250,000 natural-gas vehicles
in use in the United States.

Dave Hurst, a principal research analyst with Pike Research, a division of the consulting firm
Navigant, estimates that 20,381 natural-gas vehicles were sold in the U.S. in 2012. Ford sold more
than half of those, but big truck-makers such as Navistar and Freightliner and bus-makers such as
New Flyer were also in the mix. Hurst estimates that 1,600 CNG buses and 1,500 CNG garbage trucks
were sold last year.

Hurst expects CNG vehicle sales to grow by 10 percent per year through 2019, when he’s
forecasting sales of 39,864.

Hurst doesn’t anticipate a big uptick in sales to general consumers. Price is a problem. With a
starting price of $26,465, a 2013 natural-gas Civic costs $8,300 more than the base
gasoline-powered model.